NJ Campus Sexual Violence Grant Project WORKGROUPS: WEBSITE AND APP, AWARENESS MATERIALS, ADVOCATE POSITION, MONUMENT QUILT, COALITION GROUP ORGANIZING

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Grant : Problem Statement

u There is a need to formalize sexual violence victim advocacy resources for college student victims in Morris County, New Jersey via an interagency coalition. The four colleges in Morris County and the county-wide community-based resources (including law enforcement, university public safety officers, Jersey Battered Women’s Services, Morristown Medical Center, Morris Cares, and substance abuse counseling services) currently do not have a collective forum nor formal agreements to share data, resources, awareness, or formal referrals of victims to available resources.

u Each of the colleges currently interacts with the community agencies on its own, without interacting with each other.

Overarching goal

u The overarching goal of this project is to create a Morris County Title IX Campus Coalition that will facilitate local stakeholders such as: SART representatives from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, Morristown Medical Center, law enforcement, judges, local drug and alcohol treatment center representatives, victims/survivors, and students, to explore what the barriers to services are and to enact proposed solutions including but not limited to improved asset mapping (website, app for phone), trainings, and hiring a resource advisor/advocate for college victims.

u County College of Morris, the College of Saint Elizabeth, and Fairleigh Dickinson University have expressed interest in joining Drew to collaborate on such a coalition task force. Tasks to be completed in the action plan will include the creation of MOUs/affiliation agreements that will better coordinate the response for victims of sexual violence on the college campuses in our county.

3 aims/goals

u Creation of a collaborative coalition task force by engaging multidisciplinary stakeholders in outreach meetings, training, creation of materials on awareness, prevention, and available services, and offering presentations to increase the coordination of referrals to sexual violence advocates in the identified organizations willing to participate. Students and project supervisors will collaborate with representatives from the four colleges/universities in Morris County to ensure full streamlining of the resource collaboration process with a focus on the creation of advocacy services to college victims.

u Better use of technology to increase awareness of resources for victims of sexual assault. This will include creation of a website, developing an asset map of local Morris County resources for sexual violence victims in the area, and exploring the feasibility of creating an application (app) for Smartphones that will also map available resources in an easily accessible format.

u Launching a strategic planning process for creating and funding a sexual violence resource advisor/advocate position and resource center for college students in Morris County.

Technology

Drew University computer science professor Dr. Emily Hill will work with a Drew computer science major to conduct a needs assessment with the coalition for a mobile application for Morris County. The student will also work on the asset mapping for the proposed website. This aspect of the project will include completing a literature review of current successful mobile applications, and obtaining feedback from survivors, community members, and students related to how to specifically tailor the mobile application to the needs and resources in Morris County.

Monument Quilt

https://themonumentquilt.org/about/

Advocate/Educator

u In addition to the potential for shelters and advocates that serve to enhance a victim’s ability to leave a dangerous relationship, research has found that victims who are well-connected with community resources are more likely to testify against their perpetrators.

u But while Morris Cares and JBWS have advocates trained to navigate sexual assault victims through the medical and legal process, currently there are not available advocates who are specifically trained to navigate student victims through the college complaint process, which is complex and often traumatic for students.

Outcomes

u Specific Outcomes for the Campus Coalition:

u Five to six training sessions completed for the campus coalition by summer 2019

u Four focus groups completed by May 2019

u Six in-person meetings of the coalition task force during the first year of the project (with possible additional virtual meetings) – safe training, respondent training, SART, (need ideas)

u Three Memoranda of Understanding executed

u One major awareness project in conjunction with FORCE memorial quilt

u Morris County Resource website and mobile application created by August 2019

u Four workshops by Drew theater prevention and education program (Marissa Input needed)u Better tracking of utilization will improve victim services:

Outcomes

u Data collection on the number of students obtaining specific additional counseling/advocacy services with JBWS and Morris Cares from 2018-19 semester.

u Advocate will collect and track numbers of students served.u Increased provision of campus substance abuse counseling from

community partners. (Ellie substance abuse navigator)u Feedback forms for victims going through the college process will be

collected and analyzed for coalition consideration to response process. (See http://www.drew.edu/titleix-eeo-aa/about-us/title-ix/complaint-and-respondents-rights-and-feedback-form/ for an example of a feedback form template.)

Outcomes

u Tasks to be Accomplished by Coalition by August 2019: u Conduct an assessment of community partners’ interest in participating on the campus coalition as a

sustainable long-term working group.u Create and convene a working group of key individuals and continue recruiting additional members.u Review data on county sexual violence rates and volumes in Morris County area.u Gather information on various county interagency models for campus coalition.u Develop position description/responsibilities and hire resource advisor/advocate on a contract basis.u Reach consensus on a goal for strategic planning for partnerships on trainings, awareness activities, mobile

application for Morris County, social media asset mapping, and improved information sharing.u Determine which services will be offered on site or through referrals (Morris County hospital referral for

medical exams, etc.).u Research potential sources of additional funding/support (grant programs, local businesses and

foundations) to sustain resource advisor/advocate position in Morris County for student victims.u Reach consensus on an evolving logic model & evaluation plan for the coalition.